Transportation advocates endorse Terry McAuliffe

Terry McAuliffe may have bagged the endorsements of transportation advocates in the contest to become Virginia’s governor, but voters aren’t necessarily won over by his support for the state’s plans to pour billions of dollars into new infrastructure.

McAuliffe backed the state’s $1.4 billion a year infrastructure law. He supports the Silver Line extension to Dulles Airport. He wants to build a light rail connecting Virginia Beach and Norfolk and add two lanes to a highway running along the state’s southern border.

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His opponent, Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, opposes all of those plans and the tax hikes needed to pay for some of them, and he has sought to portray the transportation choice for voters as between “Union Terry” and “Frugal Ken.”

The push to invest more in infrastructure has won over many local politicians, editorial writers and business groups, but it hasn’t necessarily played as well among voters. It’s a problem that transportation backers have seen on the national level, where they have struggled for years to turn increased transportation funding into a populist cause.

Despite McAuliffe’s nearly double-digit lead in mostrecent polls, his regular touting of his role in passing the state’s compromise this year and his promises to back projects throughout the state, a Washington Post poll released last month found voters evenly split, 35 percent to 35 percent, on which candidate would best handle transportation issues. And only 6 percent of Virginians said transportation was the top issue in this year’s election in a Quinnipiac University poll.

“Terry is committed to investing in Virginia’s transportation infrastructure, and he has been commended by members of both parties, including Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, for encouraging fellow Democrats to support this year’s bipartisan transportation compromise,” McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwein said. “Terry’s commitment to mainstream solutions for Virginia’s economy has earned him the support of numerous mainstream Republicans and business leaders.”

If increased infrastructure spending should be a winner anywhere, it’s Virginia. The Washington, D.C., region, which includes the populous Northern Virginia suburbs, has an average commute of 34.5 minutes, second only to New York City, according to census data.

As a whole, Virginia fares only slightly better, with the sixth-longest commute in the country in 2011. The two WMATA lines that run into the Old Dominion are among the system’s most-crowded and most frequently delayed. For years, the state’s Legislature tried and failed to increase transportation funding.

“Our No. 1 issue for decades has been sustainable funding for transportation,” said Fairfax Chamber of Commerce President Jim Corcoran.

That new infrastructure law, crafted by state legislators and GOP Gov. Bob McDonnell, cut the state’s gas tax and tied it to inflation, and raised the sales tax and multitude of other transportation fees. In early campaign ads, McAuliffe put his backing of the bill at the center of his message.

“A landmark transportation bill is up for consideration in the Virginia Legislature,” a narrator says in a May ad. “Even though it’s backed by Republican Gov. McDonnell, tea party Republicans refuse to support the plan. But Terry McAuliffe thinks this is too important a time for partisan politics. Terry McAuliffe reaches out to Democrats and urges them to support the bill. And the bill passes.”